Waist-to-Hip Ratio Calculator
Your waist-to-hip ratio against WHO's cut-off of 0.90 for men and 0.85 for women, with your waist graded on WHO's own waist cut-offs and, if you add your height, your waist-to-height ratio on NICE's bands.
Your measurements
Midway between your lowest rib and the top of your hip bone, at the end of a normal breath out.
Around the widest part of your buttocks, with the tape level.
Optional, for your waist-to-height ratio. Feet and inches work too, as 5'9".
A number on its own is in the unit above. To give one field another unit, type it with the number, as 34 in, 1.75 m or 5'9".
Your result
Enter your waist and hips to see your ratio.
WHO's cut-offs for men
| Measure | Cut-off | Risk of metabolic complications |
|---|---|---|
| Waist | above 94 cm | Increased |
| Waist | above 102 cm | Substantially increased |
| Waist-to-hip ratio | 0.90 or more | Substantially increased |
WHO names no band below these, so a figure under them is below the cut-offs, not a grade of healthy.
NICE's waist-to-height bands
| Waist ÷ height | Band | Health risk |
|---|---|---|
| 0.4 to under 0.5 | Healthy central adiposity | No increased health risks |
| 0.5 to under 0.6 | Increased central adiposity | Increased health risks |
| 0.6 or more | High central adiposity | Further increased health risks |
NICE writes the bands as 0.4 to 0.49, 0.5 to 0.59 and 0.6 or more, for a BMI under 35. It names no band below 0.4, and advises keeping your waist to less than half your height.
How to measure, as WHO does
- Stand with your feet together and your arms at your sides, in light clothing at most.
- Use a tape that does not stretch. Keep it snug without pressing in, and level all the way round.
- Waist: midway between your lowest rib and the top of your hip bone, at the end of a normal breath out.
- Hips: around the widest part of your buttocks.
- Take each measurement twice. If the two are within 1 cm (about 0.4 in), use their average; if not, take both again.
Who the cut-offs are for
- WHO's cut-offs were set for adults, and do not apply in pregnancy.
- WHO's report says one set of cut-offs may not suit every population. Its waist cut-offs were derived in European populations, and the International Diabetes Federation uses a waist of 90 cm, not 94 cm, for South Asian and Chinese men.
- NICE's bands are for a BMI under 35, and for any sex or ethnicity.
What the waist-to-hip ratio tells you
The waist-to-hip ratio is your waist divided by your hips, so it reflects where you carry fat rather than how much you weigh. WHO's 2008 expert consultation gives it one cut-off per sex, 0.90 for men and 0.85 for women, and gives the waist two of its own, so a large waist is flagged even when wide hips keep the ratio low. The ratio has no unit, but both measurements must be in the same one: this page converts each to centimetres first, so a waist of 34 in over hips of 104 cm still reads correctly.
These are screening figures, not a diagnosis: a doctor reads them alongside your blood pressure, blood tests and history. For your weight against your height, use the BMI Calculator, and for an estimate of your body fat from tape measurements, the Body Fat Calculator.
Built and maintained by Meet Shah · Last updated
What this tool is used for
- Reading a ratio close to a cut-off without rounding misleading you: a figure is never rounded onto or across 0.90 or 0.85, so 0.8996 is shown as it is.
- Finding the waist at which your ratio would reach the cut-off. For a woman with 104 cm hips it is 88.4 cm, shown under the result.
- Grading the waist against WHO's own waist cut-offs as well, which can flag a waist that wide hips keep the ratio from showing.
- Adding your height for NICE's waist-to-height ratio, with half your height as the waist to stay under. NICE's own example, a 96.5 cm waist at 170 cm, reads ≈0.568 here, in the increased band; NICE writes 0.57.
- Typing each measurement in its own unit, as 34 in for a waist, 5'9" for a height, 1.75 m or 860 mm. The unit menu only sets the unit of a bare number.
- Copying the reading as plain text: the grades, the measurements, the waist at which the ratio would cross its cut-off, half your height and the sources.
How it works in practice
A worked example
A woman measures an 86 cm waist and 104 cm hips and is 165 cm tall. Her ratio is under WHO's cut-off for women, and she wants to know whether that clears her waist.
Sex Female Waist 86 cm Hips 104 cm Height 165 cm
Waist-to-hip ratio ≈0.827, below WHO's 0.85 cut-off for women. Waist 86 cm, above WHO's 80 cm: an increased risk. Waist-to-height ratio ≈0.521, in NICE's increased band. Measured: woman, waist 86 cm, hips 104 cm, height 165 cm. With hips of 104 cm, the ratio reaches 0.85 at a waist of 88.4 cm. Half the height is 82.5 cm; the waist is 3.5 cm over it. Cut-offs: WHO's 2008 expert consultation, Waist circumference and waist–hip ratio (WHO, 2011), and NICE NG246 (2025) for the waist-to-height ratio.
Her ratio of ≈0.827 is under 0.85 because her hips are wide, and with them it would reach 0.85 only at a waist of 88.4 cm, already past WHO's 88 cm for women. Her waist is above WHO's 80 cm, an increased risk, and it is 3.5 cm over half her height of 82.5 cm, giving a waist-to-height ratio of ≈0.521, in NICE's increased band. Her wide hips are no risk in themselves: in INTERHEART, at the same BMI, the top fifth for hip size had 0.73 times the odds of a heart attack of the bottom fifth. The ratio alone would have hidden her waist.
The edge case that catches people
A man with an 89.1 cm waist and 99 cm hips has a ratio of exactly 9/10. WHO's 2008 cut-off of 0.90 or more includes it, where its 1999 wording, above 0.90, did not. Floating-point division gives 0.8999999999999999, which a calculator rounding to 3 places shows as 0.900 while grading it below the cut-off, as this page used to. Here the division is exact, so it shows as 0.900, at the cut-off.
When not to use this tool
Not in pregnancy, when the waist grows for reasons the cut-offs do not cover, and not for children, for whom WHO's adult cut-offs were not set. Not as a diagnosis: a doctor weighs these figures alongside blood pressure, blood tests and history. And not to compare readings taken at different sites, such as the navel one month and WHO's midpoint the next, since the change of site alone moves the figure.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What are WHO's waist-to-hip ratio cut-offs?
- 0.90 for men and 0.85 for women. WHO's 2008 expert consultation links a ratio at or above them to a substantially increased risk of metabolic complications. It gives no bands below them, so a lower ratio is below the cut-off rather than graded healthy.
- Where exactly should I measure my waist and hips?
- WHO measures the waist midway between the lowest rib and the top of the hip bone, at the end of a normal breath out, and the hips around the widest part of the buttocks. Stand with your feet together and arms at your sides, keep the tape level and snug, and take each measurement twice.
- Why is my waist graded on its own as well?
- WHO also sets cut-offs for the waist alone: above 94 cm for men and 80 cm for women is an increased risk, and above 102 cm and 88 cm a substantially increased one. Wide hips can keep the ratio low while the waist is past them. The US NHLBI uses the same 102 and 88 cm, written as 40 in and 35 in.
- Is the waist-to-hip ratio a better guide than BMI?
- For heart attack, INTERHEART found so. In 27,098 people from 52 countries, the top fifth of the ratio had 2.52 times the odds of the bottom fifth, and BMI's odds ratio of 1.44 fell to 1.12 once the ratio was allowed for. It studied heart attack only, not diabetes or stroke.
- What does adding my height give me?
- Your waist-to-height ratio, your waist divided by your height. NICE guideline NG246 (2025) bands it at 0.4 to 0.49 as healthy, 0.5 to 0.59 as increased and 0.6 or more as high, for a BMI under 35, any sex and any ethnicity, and advises keeping your waist to less than half your height.
- Why does it show 0.8996 instead of 0.900?
- Because 0.900 would put an 89.96 cm waist over 100 cm hips on WHO's 0.90 cut-off, and the ratio is below it. Figures are shown to 3 places, or more wherever rounding would cross or land on a cut-off, and a ≈ marks any figure that is rounded.
- Do the cut-offs apply to children, in pregnancy, or to every ancestry?
- Not to children: WHO's cut-offs were set for adults, and they do not apply in pregnancy. Its 2008 report also says one set of cut-offs may not suit every population; the IDF, for example, uses a waist of 90 cm rather than 94 cm for South Asian and Chinese men.
Common errors and gotchas
- Measuring the waist at the navel or the narrowest point. WHO measures it midway between the lowest rib and the top of the hip bone; NHANES uses the top of the hip bone, a different site that gives a different figure.
- Holding your breath or pulling your stomach in. WHO reads the waist at the end of a normal breath out, with the body relaxed.
- Pulling the tape tight enough to dent the skin. WHO uses a tape that does not stretch, held snug without pressing in, and level all the way round.
- Mixing units: 33 over 98 gives 0.337, but if the 33 is inches it is 83.82 cm, and the ratio is ≈0.855. Type the unit with any measurement that is not in the menu's unit.
- Reading a ratio below the cut-off as healthy. WHO names no band below it, and the waist alone or the waist-to-height ratio can still be raised.
- Thick clothing adds to both readings and pulls the ratio toward 1; WHO measures over light clothing at most.